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Unusual words

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Mrs. H. was tripping over the cat in the kitchen and she told him to "skedaddle", what a strange word when you think about it, I wonder how it originated?


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Anymore strange words you've come across.


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ThereÒ€ℒs also the fact that the word in question is actually spelled Ò€œskedaddle,Ò€ and its spelling has been fairly constant since it came into use during the American Civil War.Β  Ò€œSkedaddleÒ€ first appeared in written accounts of battles in that war, used to mean Ò€œto retreat quickly; to fleeÒ€ (Ò€œAs soon as the rebs saw our red breeches Ò€¦ coming through the woods they skedaddled,Ò€ 1862).Β  In military use there were definite overtones of cowardice under fire in Ò€œskedaddle,Ò€ but as the word quickly percolated into civilian usage, it came to mean simply Ò€œto leave quicklyÒ€ or Ò€œto run away.Ò€
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There are a number of theories about the origin of Ò€œskedaddle,Ò€ but no definite answer to the puzzle.Β  The relatively sudden appearance of Ò€œskedaddleÒ€ as a fully-formed word, with no known ancestors in English, tends to argue for its importation from another language. There are theories that attempt to trace Ò€œskedaddleÒ€ to various Swedish or Danish words but fail on lack of evidence.Β  It is more probable that Ò€œskedaddleÒ€ is rooted in the Irish word Ò€œsgedadol,Ò€ meaning Ò€œscattered,Ò€ or the Scots word Ò€œÒ€skiddle,Ò€ meaning Ò€œto spill or scatter.Ò€  Given the Scots-Irish heritage of many of the states central to the Civil War, these both seem like reasonable bets to me.

http://www.word-detective.com/2009/06/skedaddle/

It's sounds very American to me.

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ThereÒ€ℒs also the fact that the word in question is actually spelled Ò€œskedaddle,Ò€ and its spelling has been fairly constant since it came into use during the American Civil War. Ò€œSkedaddleÒ€ first appeared in written accounts of battles in that war, used to mean Ò€œto retreat quickly; to fleeÒ€ (Ò€œAs soon as the rebs saw our red breeches Ò€¦ coming through the woods they skedaddled,Ò€ 1862). In military use there were definite overtones of cowardice under fire in Ò€œskedaddle,Ò€ but as the word quickly percolated into civilian usage, it came to mean simply Ò€œto leave quicklyÒ€ or Ò€œto run away.Ò€

There are a number of theories about the origin of Ò€œskedaddle,Ò€ but no definite answer to the puzzle. The relatively sudden appearance of Ò€œskedaddleÒ€ as a fully-formed word, with no known ancestors in English, tends to argue for its importation from another language. There are theories that attempt to trace Ò€œskedaddleÒ€ to various Swedish or Danish words but fail on lack of evidence. It is more probable that Ò€œskedaddleÒ€ is rooted in the Irish word Ò€œsgedadol,Ò€ meaning Ò€œscattered,Ò€ or the Scots word Ò€œÒ€skiddle,Ò€ meaning Ò€œto spill or scatter.Ò€ Given the Scots-Irish heritage of many of the states central to the Civil War, these both seem like reasonable bets to me.

http://www.word-detective.com/2009/06/skedaddle/

It's sounds very American to me.

That makes interesting reading, it's fascinating where these words originate. Thanks @notts-joe.

When I was a 16 year old apprentice in the printing industry one of my duties was to take a tea pot around and fill up the mugs of the journeymen, one old chap had served in Burma during the war and he used to call me the "cha waller" which means tea boy in Burma. :biggrin:

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Those are my unusual words when in a sentence


Edited by Northants Pie

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Codswallop.

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That's a good one @GrannyPie, I have looked up the probably origin and you can read it here http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/codswallop.html

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